Creaking / Cracking Noise

[wam68]

have you checked the crank bolts torque ?[/QUOTE

They are tight and seem ok.

 

[berty bassett]

have you got a spare wheel to swap , surely if its worse when freewheeling you can rule out crank , chain or gears , if you stand up while freewheeling and it still does it then you can rule out seat only leaving handlebar area wheels or peddles ?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Freehub bearings dont' work when pedaling, only when freewheeling. In other words, to test freehub bearings, you would remove the wheel, spin it and put your finger on the cassette to stop it so that the freehub bearings can kick in and start working. You would hear a rumbling noise if the bearings are damaged. This rumbling noise is characteristic for all worn bearings except suspension bearings and headset bearings.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Also unlikely but creaks can sometimes just be overtightened skewer(s).

Or the reverse, as I found yesterday after fitting new wheels.

 

[adscrim]

I had a creak that I thought was coming from the bb or headset area but turned out to be a loose spoke in my from wheel. It started off worse under load but then started appearing while I freewheeled, I assume as the spoke became more and more loose.

 

[wam68]

have you got a spare wheel to swap , surely if its worse when freewheeling you can rule out crank , chain or gears , if you stand up while freewheeling and it still does it then you can rule out seat only leaving handlebar area wheels or peddles ?

Bertie it all started when under load and then progressed to free wheeling. It's like its got its own fecking personality. I am slowly but surely removing causes ie headset, cranks, pedals, seat stem , axle bearings and now am left with either BB or free hub.

 

[CUBE CRD]

Did you put a little grease on the crank bolts before you tightened them up.I had a similar problem with both my Cube bikes - needed to tighten the crank bolts again after every few rides.Put a little grease on them,tightened them up and had no bother since.

 

[berty bassett]

to me if it does it when the crank is not moving and has got worse i would have said wheel bearings - when mine went it started when putting pressure on but in the end they sounded bad at anytime , then go quiet then back with vengance . stand your bike up and see if the wheel wobbles when you try moving it side to side - or take it off and see if the axle grinds when you move it with your fingers . only guessing but thats how mine went

 

[wam68]

to me if it does it when the crank is not moving and has got worse i would have said wheel bearings - when mine went it started when putting pressure on but in the end they sounded bad at anytime , then go quiet then back with vengance . stand your bike up and see if the wheel wobbles when you try moving it side to side - or take it off and see if the axle grinds when you move it with your fingers . only guessing but thats how mine went

Hope your right. The bearings in the axle where red with rust on the hub side with no grease evident. I can only put this down to the frequent use of degreaser on the cassettte. On the non drive side the bearings were shining like new pins in a clean bed of grease. Have replaced them all and will give it all a good run out on Friday( taking a half day to sort it out ). New BB is here so the weekend is going to finally sort this out. Will let you all know what happened. Thanks for all your kind advice.

 

[berty bassett]

though it might be your filangee !

 

[wam68]

though it might be your filangee !

 

[wam68]

Job done and the bike is like brand new. So bloody smooth now with new loose headset bearings, all metal on metal greased, axle bearings replaced and packed with grease, all nuts tightened and re checked and tightened again. It was in all probability the axle bearings. I could be wrong in this but I think that it took the bearing about 5 mile to heat up and then start causing the problem. That's probably why it was quiet at the start of the ride out. Maybe wrong but that's my best guess. . Thanks everybody for the input. It was a great help. . Wifey couldn't see why it was such a problem

 

[bpsmith]

Some people accept noises like that, or are oblivious to them completely.

I have recently ben riding in a group in readiness for a charity ride. The number of bikes that have noises, way louder than I could live with, is amazing. I say nothing, so as not to offend, mind you.

 

[Houthakker]

Useful thread this. I had a creak so replaced the BB, still there (although having got the BB off, it was due replacement anyway so dismantled the headset and found the bearings there were worse for wear. new bearings and grease and creak still there. Was thinking of taking it in the lbs to get some professional help when I found this thread. Re-seated the front wheel and nipped up the QRS and now creak free. Thanks guys.

 

[S.Giles]

If we're listing our 'creaks' I just sorted one out yesterday.

It started just after I replaced my rear wheel with one I had built myself, and took the form of a roughness when pedalling or back-pedalling. The derailleur could be seen doing little 'jumps' in concert with a sort of repetitive 'clicky' noise. I couldn't tell if the noise was coming from the BB or rear mech.

To cut a long story short, I hadn't tightened the cassette-ring quite enough when fitting the cassette to the new hub. A quick, easy fix for once!